The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

When in Waco

In March, my oldest daughter and I took a trip out to Waco, Texas which will soon be her new home following her upcoming wedding! Her fiancé is in graduate school there for the next several years and since she had never been to Waco (we've been to other parts of Texas), a trip out to visit her new town was in order. We saw many interesting places while in Texas, but the Magnolia Silos are what I get asked about the most, so that's where I'll begin. I don't watch Chip and Joanna Gaines's show (I don't have cable tv), so I wasn't exactly going as a fan of the show, but I enjoyed the visit there so much because it was beautiful, pleasant, and loaded with many creative ideas for yard and ... Read more

Easter Blessings ’22

Good morning, friends! We had a busy and fun Easter week, so I just want to quickly journal some blessings today. I haven't had have much time this spring to get too involved with my yard, but one morning last week I ran to Lowe's to pick up some flowers to get started on pots and beds. I'd just been gifted a Dunkin' Donuts gift card by Whitney from Come Home for Comfort for answering a Bible-related question on her Instagram story (@homeforcomfort), and since our DD is conveniently located next to Lowe's, it only made sense to swing through the drive-thru and grab a latte to accompany me on my plant shopping trip. This was such a little treasure in my busy week! I mean, flowers and ... Read more

A Quick Hello (with flowers!)

Good morning, friends. My, how I've missed you all! I'm way behind on blogging and I've missed it so much because it's a fun, creative outlet for me. Even during the busy seasons of life, I try to make time for journaling at least a few memories here, but some seasons just leave absolutely NO time. We are thick in the middle of homeschooling, spring soccer for two of our kids, and wedding planning and college graduation for my oldest, among other things. Some moments I'm completely overwhelmed and then other moments I'm having the time of my life with it all! My husband and I just keep saying to each other, "We will look back on these days and miss them so much!" I think a person can be ... Read more

A New Project!

We've been desperately needing to clear out some overgrowth of vines and brush in our woods. For the first few years that we lived on this property, there was enough cleared ground area for playing and picnicking. We even had an area right by the creek for our tent, Adirondack chairs, and a firepit. But over the years, the usable space has shrunk due to the overgrowth. We have plans to reestablish the area this spring and even add some fun new features, so my husband hired someone with all the necessary heavy-duty equipment to come out and clear the mess while leaving our trees. The guy was scheduled to start work at 7:00 yesterday morning and all week our son had been anxiously ... Read more

All is Fair in Love and Star Wars

For many years our family lived in "little girl world". It's a magical place flowing with tule and dripping in pink! And my husband and I loved every minute! Now we're parents of a boy which is also loads of fun. I've learned a lot about boy stuff including all things Star Wars! I must admit I've never really been a big Star Wars fan before, but I work on learning the characters (I'm still getting them wrong) and I watch the movies with the rest of the family. We have a great agreement: I'll sit and watch a Star Wars movie with them, and they don't mind me working on needlepoint or reading a book while the movie plays. It's fair. And it's love, lol. Because I enjoy seeing my kids get ... Read more

Adventure Awaits!

Back in January (I'm so behind, y'all!) our young man turned eleven. Because the 11th birthday doesn't hold any special milestone, we give our kids a mystery day for that year's birthday, meaning their dad and I plan all the activities of the day without them knowing what's coming. Our oldest daughter's theme for her mystery day was Hawaiian luau, and our younger daughter's theme was an all-day fall picnic. One thing I've learned about raising a boy is his need to feel like a man--to have adventure, to test his strength, and to be respected for it! So, for our son's birthday, we decided on the theme "Adventure Awaits"! With our girls, their mystery days included surprise parties ... Read more

Our Valentine Baby

Not only is today Valentine's Day, but it was 22 years ago this very day that my husband and I brought our baby girl home from the hospital, and we’ve called her our Valentine Baby ever since. And now she's getting married in four months! Four. months. people. Our daughter is not only planning a wedding, but she's finishing her last semester in college and is neck deep with her classes, music ensembles, an internship, senior thesis and defense work, and senior recital prep. When we asked what she'd like to do for her birthday, this tired girl said she just wanted to come home for the weekend and eat gumbo. She couldn't even think of anything past that, so we decided to keep it restful ... Read more

February Feels

Good Monday morning! I'm just jotting down a few simple blessings from my weekend. Just some sweet tidbits.On Friday, what started as "Mom, can you please look over my essay with me?" turned into the picture you see below! My girl and I often make tea when we go over her assignments for her composition course, so we decided to make some tea first, and since it was raspberry truffle tea, we thought chocolate raspberry chocolate chip scones would go perfectly with our tea. One thing led to another and viola! Friday afternoon tea party--delicious! Saturday night, my husband and I went on an early Valentine's date! It's really hard to work in date nights these days, but we've ... Read more